Red Sox Surprisingly Linked To Breakout Star With 2.89 ERA As Trade Candidate

Time to overhaul the starting rotation?

Sep 20, 2019; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; A detail view of Boston Red Sox hats and gloves at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images / Kim Klement-Imagn Images

Starting pitching will be on the mind of every Boston Red Sox fan from the dawn of October until the first pitch on Opening Day 2025.

The Red Sox rotation finished the season with very solid numbers, but that doesn't tell the full story. A dominant April and September masked some of the summer months where Boston was hemorrhaging home runs and couldn't get starters through six innings, devastating the bullpen.

There are promising pieces returning, but for the Red Sox to return to playoff contention, they need to acquire at least one starting pitcher with ace potential.

When seeking an ace, the first team Boston is likely to call on the trade hotline is the Seattle Mariners, who are seemingly made of aces. Conor Ryan of Boston.com linked the Red Sox to Seattle's promising young starter, 24-year-old Bryan Woo.

"Boston has the assets both at the big-league roster and in the farm system to trade for a proven starter like... one of the Mariners’ top arms (in Bryan Woo)," Ryan said.

When Woo has been on a big-league mound, the results have been dominant. He's only three years out of college, but in 40 career starts, he has a 13-8 record, 3.44 ERA, and 1.03 WHIP. He took a big leap forward in 2024, with a 2.89 ERA in 22 starts, while dropping his walk rate from 8.4% to 2.8%.

Woo would be an interesting compliment to the rest of the Red Sox's starting rotation in that his four-seam fastball is undoubtedly his best pitch. He throws it 49% of the time and it generated a +17 run value, per Baseball Savant, which ranked in the 95th percentile of all big-league pitches.

Though Woo was fantastic this season, he doesn't have the workhorse track record of his Mariners teammates Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, or George Kirby. That could make him more affordable by comparison in trade packages, but it also means he's less of a sure bet to throw 180+ innings.

Woo will be one of the names to watch on the trade market this offseason. He comes with some risks, but if the Red Sox decide to take those risks, he has the upside to change the entire complexion of the roster heading into a pivotal 2025.

More MLB: Ex-Red Sox GM Gets Another Shot, Announced As Next Cardinals Front Office Leader